Local enterprises honoured for achievements at the 2015 Enterprise 50 Awards

Local enterprises honoured for achievements at the 2015 Enterprise 50 Awards

Singapore, 19 November 2015 - Rotating Offshore Solutions Pte Ltd, a home-grown marine
engineering company has won first place in the 2015 Enterprise 50 (E50) Awards. In second and third
place respectively were local seafood chain Jumbo Seafood Pte Ltd, and AllAlloy Pte Ltd, a total
welding solution provider.

Themed 'The Next 50 – Building a Better Tomorrow', the winners of the annual Enterprise 50 (E50)
Awards stood out from the competition by pushing boundaries and embracing technology and
innovation to differentiate their product offerings in tandem with changing market conditions.

Gracing this year's E50 Awards Presentation and Gala Dinner at the Resorts World Convention
Centre was Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), Mr S Iswaran, who presented the awards to
this year's winners.

Mr Chiu Wu Hong, Head of Enterprise at KPMG in Singapore said, "The productivity journey is not an
easy one for many companies, but our 50 enterprises have shown us that they are able to achieve
sustained productivity and remain competitive if their company is committed to a productivity-led
culture.

The 50 enterprises that made the rankings this year have moved beyond relooking at their business
models and successfully positioned their company for business expansion, whether into new lines of
businesses or to expand overseas."

Mr Alvin Tay, Editor for The Business Times said, "This year's E50 winners have shown exemplary
leadership and business acumen in their respective industries. Their successes have centred on
improving productivity and pioneering innovations so as to enhance their core competencies and build
new capabilities. It is companies such as our 50 winners that form the strong core that drives the
development of Singapore's economy. As Singapore's leading business and financial daily, we will be
the voice to advocate and support the growth of our SMEs through our editorial coverage and news
analysis."

Innovate and internationalise

This year's winners represent a good cross-section of industries and the judges were impressed by
their strong entrepreneurial spirit and business performances despite the difficult economic
conditions.

The judges noted that many enterprises focus on leveraging technology and innovation to drive their
growth amidst a tight labour market.

According to a recent poll conducted by KPMG of this year's E50 winners, almost all of the
respondents leverage technology for improved efficiency, time savings and for better client service
and convenience. However, they also cited that the updates and maintenance costs of the technology
are a challenge.

Underscoring their respective industries' productivity growth rates this year, the E50 winners placed
greater emphasis on helping their businesses improve their top-line growth so as to improve
productivity.

A poll was conducted among the winners this year. It found that most of the E50 winners were
pressing ahead with their internationalisation efforts and expanding into foreign markets. More than half have a presence in two or more countries. Key reasons for doing so include having access to
new markets, gaining a competitive advantage in the market and addressing the rising rental and
labour costs in Singapore.

Said Mr Chiu: "Given our small domestic market, internationalisation should be a key strategy for any
homegrown company looking to build scale and access new markets and customers. For a small and
open economy such as Singapore, regional markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar offer
opportunity. The formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) could provide the platform for
SMEs to expand regionally."

The advent of digital disruption also sees a need for local companies to capitalise on mobile
technology and social media developments to gain a competitive advantage.

"With the advent of new markets, empowering technology and new attitudes, it is imperative that our
local companies combine the merits of both innovation and technology to sharpen growth, stimulate
profits, consistently execute smart ideas and build capable and mobilised businesses", Mr Chiu
added.

This year's E50 applicants were evaluated and ranked using both quantitative and qualitative criteria.
Quantitative factors included financial performance indicators such as operating profit before tax,
turnover and profit growth.

The qualitative criteria included management and marketing strategies such as the applicants'
business model and their innovations, management ideals and governance, market branding and
overall potential.

The E50 judging panel comprised senior management representatives from KPMG in Singapore, The
Business Times, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF),
SPRING Singapore and OCBC Bank, who is the sponsor of the Awards.

Mr Linus Goh, Head of Global Commercial Banking, OCBC Bank, said: "OCBC is proud to return as
the main sponsor for the E50 award for the 10th year running. This year's winners continue to
showcase the strength and agility of the best of Singapore enterprises, taking bold steps to innovate
and transform their businesses in a rapidly evolving and somewhat volatile business environment.
Their perseverance has been rewarded with success and a solid platform from which to launch their
future growth."

Mr Teo Eng Cheong, Chief Executive Officer, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore said, "The E50
companies are promising companies which have built strong foundations in Singapore. Many of them
will benefit by expanding overseas. They may enjoy economies of scale, gain access to new
technologies or develop new business models that they have not tried in Singapore. IE Singapore
stands ready to assist them in this journey."

Mr Ho Meng Kit, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Business Federation (SBF), said, "Our
warmest congratulations to the E50 recipients and SBF applauds these Singapore enterprises for
rising above global and local business challenges to be competitive, resilient and viable. Technology
adoption and internationalisation feature prominently among these winning companies which serve as
successful and inspiring models for the Singapore business community. As the apex business
chamber, SBF remains committed to helping companies through the restructuring phase, improve
productivity and expand overseas."

Mr Ted Tan, Deputy Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore, said, "SPRING is proud to support the
Enterprise 50 awards to jointly celebrate the success and pioneering spirit of our local enterprises.
The winning companies contribute to our economy and provide good jobs for Singaporeans. They
also inspire others to innovate and improve productivity. We hope more enterprises will follow their
lead; to create value by developing compelling products and services, increasing market footprints
and reinventing business models."